Vaughn Stein's thriller Cellar Door leaves audiences wondering about the secret hidden within the depths of the house.
The 2024 movie stars Jordana Brewster, Scott Speedman, and John Wick: Chapter 4 star Laurence Fishburne.
Cellar Door was released to poor reviews from critics, earning just 22% on Rotten Tomatoes, and recently started streaming on Tubi.
Cellar Door Movie Plot Recap
Cellar Door focuses on the story of a couple, Sera (Brewster) and John (Speedman), who seek to start a new life in the suburbs after experiencing a tragic miscarriage.
After struggling to find a new home, they are invited into Emmett's gated residence (Fishburne). Emmett insists the couple stay for dinner and then overnight, but when they awaken the following day, they find him gone. In his place is a letter revealing that he has gifted the mansion to them on the proviso, stating that they never open the cellar door.
Naturally, John obsesses over the cellar's contents and discovers that Emmett's family vanished from the house years ago. He also uncovers a worrying list of short-term residents at the property and is even warned about the house by one ex-tenant at a party.
John becomes paranoid that the cellar may contain some literal skeletons in the closet.
At the same time, John is dealing with a threat from his colleague, Alyssa (Addison Timlin). It's revealed that John had an affair with Alyssa and was with her the night Sera miscarried. Alyssa is infatuated with John and believes he should be with her, so she orchestrates a series of events that John has to hide from his wife.
Alyssa eventually arrives at John's house unannounced when he is not home, where she confronts Sera. Triggered by what Alyssa reveals, Sera shoots her and decides to cover up the murder by moving Alyssa's body into the cellar.
When the police come to investigate, Sera lies and testifies that John was with her on the day Alyssa was murdered. Sera eventually confesses to John that she killed Alyssa but swears him to secrecy on the threat that she will pin the murder on him if he doesn't.
The couple are forced back into a "normal" life but haunted by the secrets they keep.
What Is Behind the Cellar Door?
While much of Cellar Door builds toward the twist of what is contained within the secret locked room in the house, the thriller film never truly answers that question.
Though John suspects the cellar may contain the bodies of Emmett's family, the only confirmed corpse in the room is that of Alyssa, which Sera hid there using an alternate entrance to the locked door.
However, the audience never gets a glimpse inside the locked room. Even after Emmett gives John and Sera the key to the door, they refrain from opening it, leaving audiences with a frustrating ending.
The intention of the locked cellar door is more metaphoric than anything else. The film refuses to answer what is truly within the room. Still, it leaves audiences pondering whether the cellar contains a sinister evil that influences the house's inhabitants or if that evil is actually within the tenants all along.
Cellar Door also ruminates on the danger of hidden secrets. John keeping his affair a secret from his wife leads to Alyssa's death and makes Sera a murderer (marking another lethal role for Brewster).
Similarly, the curiosity to know what is behind a locked door throughout the film can be seen as a metaphor for the couple's relationship, with the truth ending up being disastrous for them both.
Cellar Door is streaming on Tubi.
